Henry David Thoreau Quotes

… to escape censure a man must pass his whole life without saying or doing one ill or foolish thing.

The ordeal of virtue is to resist all temptation to evil.

Bad company corrupts good character.

Men have the power of thinking that they may avoid sin.

To abstain from sin when one can no longer sin is to be forsaken by sin, not to forsake it.

If you would not step into the harlot's house, do not go by the harlot's door.

It's obviously a lot harder to try and be a good guy than it is to be a bad guy. The world is a fundamentally evil place, it seems like. So in order to be a good person, you have to fight temptation and vice.

A portion of mankind take pride in their vices and pursue their purpose; many more waver between doing what is right and complying with what is wrong.

The better day, the worse deed.

Ever notice that the whisper of temptation can be heard farther than the loudest call to duty.

Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

… knowledge without conscience is but the ruin of the soul

I want to make people see that evil is seductive and that we need to be careful.

There were times when I was tempted to do wrong, and could have went that way. But I knew it wasn't for me. I was told enough times that it catches up with you, and I believe it.

I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed.

Evil is like water, it abounds, is cheap, soon fouls, but runs itself clear of taint.

Let us be true: this is the highest maxim of art and of life, the secret of eloquence and of virtue, and of all moral authority.

Knowledge becomes evil if the aim be not virtuous.

Character is the essence of all that a man has seen in life and regards as high and exalted. Character is like truth: the substance of the things that a man has forgotten but the substance of the things that are worth remembering in life.

It is not easy to do something good, but it is extremely difficult to do something bad.

I really wanted to be nasty and mean and bad. It's so much easier than being the good girl.

Character is much easier kept than recovered.

Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.

Lead me not into temptation; I can find the way myself.

To those whose God is honor; only disgrace is a sin.